Time seemed to stretch interminably for Torias as he stood on the drawbridge of his keep. He gazed out over the quilted patchwork of lands that made up the Battleground, the entire landscape dominated by the imposing Tower in the center. Soon the signal would go up from that tower, the only landmark visible to all six wizards at their appointed starting positions. Soon he could move out into the Battleground proper and begin gathering the precious, self-renewing magical energy. Torias reviewed his small stock of ready spells. Two engines of destruction, the Ball of Abysmal Flame, and an anti-magical counter to shut down any one spell he could detect. A meager selection he thought, but the Fates could not have been much kinder to me. To keep himself from dwelling on the trial to come, he blazoned an elaborate version of his sigil on the ground in front of the keep. His only goal today was to inscribe five more of them and then proceed to the Tower to claim the prize. But before that, he knew, he would no doubt do battle with bizarre creatures from the farthest dimensions, and with his rival wizards themselves. And perhaps he would run across Canticle, and have the opportunity to avenge his long-ago but 'still-painful defeat' a battle in which he lost control of his most powerful Wyrm. You made one mistake, Canticle, but that shall prove sufficient. You shouldn't have let me live. Canticle, The Conquering is a board game using the cards and basic rules of Magic: the Gathering7m by Wizards of the Coast. Except where noted below, the rules of Magic: the Gathering are used in The Conquering, and must be familiar to those that wish to play. The Conquering is played by two to six players with their own Magic: the Gathering decks. Each player takes the role of a wizard going out to battle all challengers in a formal contest Of magic. As with any new game, the rules will seem a bit confusing at first. Read the rules once to become familiar with them, then grab a deck and some friends and start playing, referring back to the specific sections if you have a question. This is by far the easiest and quickest way to learn the rules. It is important to note that the relative values of some cards will change dramatically in The Conquering. This is absolutely intentional. Because Magic: the Gathering is, by necessity, a dynamic and occasionally ambiguous game, it is impossible to predict all the possible card combinations or problems that may occur. If a problem occurs that is not covered under these rules, make a consensus ruling amongst those playing and continue. Go forth and conquer. The Object: The object of the game is to complete the Grand Journey. This is accomplished by stopping in all six places of power on the map to inscribe the hexagram that is necessary to cast the "Conquering Spell". You get credit for your beginning space for free. After stopping in each place of power, you must reach the Tower in the center of the board to cast the spell and win the game, banishing all of the other wizards to the realms of your choice. If you defeat all of the other wizards during the game, you may complete the Grand Journey at your leisure. Setup: Set up as per Magic: the Gathering, but with these exceptions. First of all, each player starts with only four cards. Use any method you wish to determine in what order the players will select their starting positions. The player who selects their starting position last will play first, and then the turn rotates clockwise around the table. A token, marker, or miniature is used on the board to represent each wizard. Place your Library and Graveyard in front of you. Any creatures summoned will be placed on the board in the same hex you occupy, and all enchantments and non-creature artifacts will be placed in front of you. In constructing a deck for The Conquering, do not include any land. Note that the hand maximum is still seven cards, the starting hand size notwithstanding. Furthermore, due to the significant rulechanges, some cards have been altered - see the list at the end of the rules. Turn Sequence: The turn sequence in The Conquering is as follows: I. Untap Phase II. Upkeep Phase (restricted mana phase) III. Draw Phase IV. Main Phase A. Spell Phase B. Movement and Combat Phase (restricted mana phase) C. Spell Phase (continued) V. End Phase Basic Rules: When a creature is cast, it is placed under the casting wizard on the board. Land and creature enchantments are placed on the board appropriately. All other enchantments and non-creature artifacts are placed in front of the player. If a player loses their last life, all of that player's cards are removed from the game, regardless of the cards' current controller. Cards that specifically target "your opponent" must target a wizard within range (see below). Cards that affect "both players" affect all wizards in the game. While the wizard is on the gameboard like all of the creatures, the wizard is* not considered a creature and cannot be targeted as a creature. Mana: When casting spells or activating fast effects, mana is drawn directly from the land, but the land does not tap. You may cast any spell or activate any fast effect for which you have sufficient land available. for instance, to summon a Serra Angel, you must be able to obtain 5 mana, at least two of them white. Pulling mana from land in order to power a spell or fast effect does not tap the land, and the lands thus used may be used later in the turn to power another spell or effect. Places of power do not provide mana. You may draw mana from non-land mana producers, but these tap as normal. You may pull mana from the same land as many times during a turn as you need to, but you may only pull mana once from a land for each spell you want to cast, or each fast effect that you want to power. Also, during the upkeep phase, and during all "fast effects" phases (including any time that spells or fast effects are being responded to with other fast effects), mana may only be taken from each land once during the phase. These are considered "mana restricted phases," where you can only draw one mana per land, regardless of the number of effects to be powered. There is no such thing as a "mana pool" - when a spell or effect is desired, check whether the land or artifact mana is available to cast it. Mana burn occurs at the end of any "mana restricted phase", including the casting of a single spell, if the wizard needed to absorb more mana than were used. Example: Torias the wizard wishes to summon a Hypnotic Spectre and cast a Fireball in the same turn. Torias has four lands under his control: a swamp, a mountain, and two islands. He also has an untapped Mox Jet in front of him. The Hypnotic Spectre costs two black and one colorless mana. Since he has only one swamp, he taps the Mox for a black mana: this, plus a black mana from his swamp and a third mana from any of his other three lands, is sufficient, and the Hypnotic Spectre appears on the hex under Torias's miniature. Now, Torias casts the Fireball: he has no more artifact mana available, so he can only draw mana from his lands. Torias still has access to the two lands (a swamp and something else) that he used to summon the Spectre. Since one of his lands is a mountain, Torias can cast the Fireball with his four lands, resulting in a three point Fireball. If Torias' nemesis Canticle uses a Healing Salve to absorb the Fireball, Torias will be unable to Counterspell the Salve, because he has already used his islands in this fast effects exchange. Another example: Canticle has cast a Mana Flare, which adds one to the amount of mana that is drawn from each land. When Canticle Shatters Torias's Mox Jet, Torias can no longer use a fast effect or spell that requires only one mana without tak- ing mana bum. When Torias summons his Dragon Engine, which costs 3 colorless mana, he draws 2 red mana from the mountain, and 2 black mana from the swamp. He summons the Dragon Engine succesfully, but immediately loses a life from the excess energies that flow into his body. Fast effects - actions that come from cards in play - are dealt with in a slightly different fashion than in Magic: the Gathering. Any fast effect that requires a nonzero amount of mana can be activated only once between a player's untap phase and his or her next untap, phase. This activation can be as many individual uses as can be afforded by the mana available (each land will only provide one mana for this - consider this a mana-restricted phase). For example, a Dragon Whelp which breathes fire during its attack phase may add +1/+0 for each mountain that its controller has linked, but then it cannot do so later when it is involved in a battle during another player's turn. However, if a "Firebreathing" enchantment was placed on the Whelp, it could firebreathe twice (either double strength during the attack, or saving one for the battle later). Note that this restriction does include non-tapping effects and does have the result of turning many poly artifacts into mono artifacts; nevertheless, the use does not tap the card unless tapping is a cost of the effect. Range: Any spell or fast effect that targets a card or wizard on the board may only target a card within three spaces of the source of the spell or effect. Unless the source is a card on the board, assume the source is the acting wizard. Range affects only "targeted effects" like Royal Assassination, not "general effects" like Pestilence, nor does it prevent cards from damaging their controller (Force of Nature, Serendib Efreet, etc.). Consider a targeted effect to be any effect in which a decision has to be made about the target. The only exception to the range rule is that sacrifices are unaffected by distance or range. Counterspells may target any spell by a wizard that is within your range, or any spell that has an immediate effect on a creature or wizard that is within range. This means that Pestilence cannot be countered if the casting wizard is not in range, but a Hurricane, or a Lightning Bolt directed at a creature one space away, can be. Enchantments such as Gloom that have a "continuous effect" on everyon~ can also be countered, even though they do not have an immediate effect. A spell such as Timetwister could be countered because it affects the countering wizard. Movement: In the Movement and Combat Phase of the Main Phase, the wizard and all of his creatures may move. All movement for a player's wizard and creatures is simultaneous. Once movement has been decided for all of a player's creatures, then combat occurs in any occupied space that the player's creatures have moved into. Once a player has started moving, no player may cast spells or use card effects until after destinations* have been chosen for all of that player's creatures and wizard. A lone wizard may not enter (attack) an occupied space. The wizard has three options for movement: you may move one space and then "link" with the land you end up on, or you may move two spaces but then may not link with either land that turn. Finally, you may choose not to move, which allows you to link as well. When you link with a land, mark it with a token to symbolize the link. Once a wizard has linked with a land, he or she may draw mana from that land until another wizard links with it. You can't link with the same land multiple times in a row: either you're linked with it and may draw mana from it, or you aren't. Only one wizard at a time may be linked with a land, but there's no limit on how many times a land may change ownership. A land is not considered linked until the end of the movement/cornbat phase. Note that to win the game, you do not have to actually link with each place of power, but you must finish a game turn on each one. Creatures move according to this chart: Power : Movement Points 0 : 6 1 : 5 2 : 4 3 : 3 4 : 2 5+ : 1 It costs a creature one movement point (MP) to move onto their "native" land (white creatures walking into a plains, red creatures on a mountain, etc.) and 2 MPs to move onto any other land (including the places of power and the central tower). Artifact creatures, even if they have color as well, must pay 2 MPs to move onto a land. Flying creatures, because they don't interact with the terrain, only need to spend 1 MP to move into a space, regardless of what type of land they move onto. Note that the act of moving does not tap a creature. A creature may always move one space per turn, even if it doesn't have sufficient MP's to do so. Creatures that cannot attack, cannot move (generally, this means walls, creatures that were just summoned, and creatures that are tapped). You may not move your wizard or creatures through a land space that your opponent's wizard or creatures occupy - if creatures move into an occupied space they must stop for combat. A player who initiates multiple combats (attacks and battles) on his or her turn gets to decide in what order the conflicts are resolved. Native Land: A creature's "native" land is a land which provides colored mana in its casting cost. Creatures on their native land have a +1/+1 bonus during combat. The +1 power bonus is only for damage in combat. The +1 toughness is kept until the creature moves off of the land. No creatures are native to the desert except the Desert Nomads and Camels. Camels are not native to plains, and Desert Nomads are not native to mountains. Combat: To initiate combat, simply move some of your creatures onto an occupied land on the board. They may bring a wizard along if they so desire. You may attack the same space from more than one direction. Combat can occur in one of two ways, depending on whether a wizard is in the defending hex. If there is a wizard in the defending space, then this attack is treated like a standard Magic: the Gathering attack phase. If only creatures are defending a space, then a "battle" results. (The difference between a battle and an attack is explained below. It doesn't matter if a wizard is assisting the assaulting creatures: the defense can't target him.) Note that the movement/combat phase is a "restricted mana" phase during which only one mana of the appropriate type can be drawn from each land. If more than one attack is taking place during a player's turn, that player decides the order in which they are resolved. If at the end of the combat all defending creatures are dead or tapped, then the attacking creatures have won and may stay in the hex; any remaining (tapped) defending creatures on the land must retreat (see below). If there is even a single untapped surviving defending creature remaining in the space, or if there are no surviving attacking creatures, then the attacking creatures and/or wizard have lost and must retreat to the land that they attacked from. All creatures and wizards that survived may make this retreat, regardless of whether they are tapped. It does not matter whether there is a wizard in the defending space - only an untapped creature can maintain hold of the defended land. Attack When a group of creatures attacks a space with a wizard on it, a standard Magic: the Gathering attack occurs. It does not matter whether or not there is a wizard on the attacking side (this wizard is not involved in the attack and cannot be blocked or targeted by defenders). Attacks use the Movement/Attack sequence as follows: 1. Move all creatures that are going to move for the turn. 2. Any creature moving into an occupied (unfriendly) space is "attacking" and must tap. Attacking 'bands' are declared. 3. Fast effects phase. 4. Defenders declare blocking assignments. 5. Fast effects phase. 6. Damage assignment. 7. Damage prevention & regeneration fast effects phase. 8. Resolution (Creatures sent to graveyards, damage assigned to defending wizard). Battle When the defending group does not contain a wizard, then the result of movement is a battle. It does not matter whether or not there is a wizard on the attacking side (this wizard is not involved in the battle and cannot be targeted by defenders). In a battle, a special sequence is used: 1. Move all creatures that are going to move for the turn. (This is exactly the same phase as #1 above.) 2. Any creature moving into an occupied (unfriendly) space is "attacking" and must tap. Attackers declare "banding groups." 3. Fast effects phase. 4. Defenders declare "banding groups." (See below.) 5. Fast effects phase. 6. Damage assignment. 7. Damage prevention & regeneration fast effects phase. 8. Resolution (creatures sent to graveyards). Creatures band on both attack and defense in The Conquering. These are "classic" Magic: the Gathering bands, i.e. you may band together any number of creatures so long as no more than one of them is lacking the "bands" ability. Damage assigned to banded creatures is assigned to the band as a whole and may then be distributed at the band's owner's discretion. All defending creatures are considered to be "blocking creatures" for purposes of card effects. If creature A receives damage from creature B, then creature A is considered to be blocking creature B for the purposes of card effects. Damage is dealt as follows: the attacking and defending players distribute the damage dealt by each creature in any way they please among the opposing "unbanded" creatures and banded groups. As in Magic: the Gathering, each creature does damage equal to its power. All creatures in the space are vulnerable to this damage - this is a huge melee in which every creature is fighting, including tapped or flying creatures (except creatures with protection from a color, which may not receive damage from creatures of that color). A creature may split the damage it can inflict among more than one creature if it wishes to. If a creature has landwalking ability matching the battle's terrain, that creature gains the First Strike ability (there is still no such thing as double first strike, however). This only applies to battles, and not to attacks on wizards. First strike damage is assigned and dealt before the rest of the damage, and if it is enough to kill a creature, that creature will depart the battle before it may inflict its damage. Creatures with rampage only do so if more than one creature assign damage to it (this may result in a creature dealing additional damage). No damage may be assigned to a wizard in a battle. If it matters, the attacking side assigns its damage first, although the damage is all dealt simultaneously. Creatures get to assign their damage even if they are going to die (unless they were killed by first strike damage). A sample battle: Torias and his creatures move into a swamp occupied by four of Canticle's creatures. Canticle is five spaces away. Canticle has 6 red mana available. Defending are: A Dragon Whelp which breathed fire during Canticle's turn, a Granite Gargoyle which has not been activated, a Black Knight, and a Benalish Hero. Attacking: A Dragon Engine, A Craw Wurm, a Ball Lightning. Torias is holding a Lightning Bolt in his hand. He's linked to 4 lands. Torias and his hordes move into the space. Since they're attacking, Torias' three creatures all tap. Torias looks over the defenders and realizes that the Black Knight, on its native land, is 3/3 with first strike and will be able to kill either the Ball Light- ning or the Dragon Engine before they can deal their damage. Consequently, during the first fast effects phase (b), Torias zaps the Knight with the Lightning Bolt. It dies. Now Canticle may declare a banding group. The Benalish Hero bands with the Drag- on Whelp. Canticle also pumps up his Gargoyle with six red mana, making him 2/8. Torias only has 3 lands still available in this mana restricted phase, but he can still pump up the Dragon Engine to 2/3 (if he had remembered to pump the Engine before moving it, it could have gotten to be 3/3, but would have moved slower). The two sides now get to assign damage. Torias has fourteen total points of damage to assign, and assigns eight points to the Gargoyle, and six to the banded group. Canticle has, with the early departure of the Knight, only five points to assign. Since the Ball Lightning is doomed anyhow, he assigns all of it to the Craw Wurm. As neither side can prevent damage or regenerate their creatures, they go to the resolution phase. The Craw Wurm and Gargoyle die of their wounds. Canticle may split the damage among the band any way he wishes and he assigns it all to the Benalish Hero, who dies heroically. The Dragon Whelp, untapped and still breathing, remains in the space. Canticle's creatures have held the space and Torias, along with his Dragon Engine and Ball Lightning, must retreat to the space from which he attacked. Retreat: Attacking creatures/wizards that are forced to retreat return one hex to the land from which they attacked. Defending creatures that are forced to retreat (having tapped earlier, or during regeneration) must retreat one space towards their controller's place of power. If there are no empty or friendly spaces in the direction of the wizard's place of power, then all of the creatures are destroyed. A wizard may retreat to any open or friendly space, but if there are no open or friendly spaces to retreat to, then the wizard is captured and is out of the game. A creature that is forced to retreat must do so regardless of whether or not it is tapped. Lands: (see diagram) There are six types of basic lands in The Conquering: Plains, Swamps, Forests, Islands, Mountains, and Deserts. The first five behave as they do in Magic: the Gathering, except where noted elsewhere in these rules. The Desert, The Tower (in the middle), and the six Places of Power (in the corners of the map) are explained below. In case you are not able to identify the lands easily, from the top to the bottom down the middle column they are: Place of Power (island), desert, forest, The Tower, mountain, swamp, Place of Power (swamp). To the right of The Tower are plains, and the island. Land Destruction: Any spell or effect that "destroys" land (e.g. Stone Rain, Balance, Armageddon) removes the link that a wizard created earlier. The wizard may no longer acquire mana from that land unless he or she links with the land again later. The same result occurs if a player sacrifices a land. Likewise, any card that refers to lands "in play" should be translated to mean lands "linked". Special Lands: Deserts provide 1 colorless mana. Any creature that is on a desert at the beginning of any player's turn or moves onto or through a desert takes a point of damage. Any wizard that moves onto or through a desert or does not move off of a desert on his or her turn takes a point of damage, as well. This is cumulative with other forrns of damage, but a creature or wizard will only take 1 point of damage per turn regardless of the number of deserts crossed. The Tower provides 3 colorless mana. It is a source of great magical power and the only point from which a wizard may cast the spell to banish all of the remaining wizards to the plane of the wizard's choice (after stopping in each place of power, a wizard who reaches the tower wins the game). Places of Power provide no mana. (Optional rule: each Place of Power provides 1 mana of its appropriate type - notice that there is one of each basic type. Start linked to your starting space.) Banned cards: [Note: This list is made up mostly of cards that would need major surgery before they became playable in The Conquering. If your group of players can agree upon a way to play them, go for it! -DCW] Any Land Basalt Monolith Candelabra of Tawnos Chaos Orb Drain Power Equinox Falling Star Gaea's Touch Kormus Bell Ley Druid Living Lands Living Plane Mana Short Mana Drain Power Surge Reset Shaharazad Stasis Winter Orb Altered cards: Ancestral Recall/Braingeyser - Playing these cards ends your turn. Ankh of Mishra - does damage each time a player links with a land. Arboria/Island Sanctuary - the Wizard's space cannot be attacked if the conditions are met. Balance - count number of lands linked. Those with more must "unlink". Creatures Balance as usual. Beasts of Bogardan/Ivory Guardians - only gains the +1/+1 if it is in a space where opponent controls a white/red creature (either in an Attack or Battle). Blaze of Glory - Takes all damage from opposing creatures during a Battle. Clone/Vesuvan Doppleganger - can only take the form of a creature within three spaces. Control Magic/Old Man of the Sea/Preacher/Seasinger/Rubinia Soulsinger - if the controlled creature is not by itself on a space, it must immediately retreat as if it were a "retreating defending creature". Castle/Moat - When cast, is put into play on the space the wizard occupies, and only applies to that space (protects any defending creatures in the space). Dandfin/Sea Serpent/Island Fish/Pirate Ship - can only attack onto an island space, and only deals damage in a battle if it takes place on an island. Desert Twister/Fissure - destroys all creatures in one space, or unlinks one land (Desert Twister: or destroys any one card). Dingus Egg - does damage each time a player unlinks from a land. Erg Raiders/Juggernaut/Siren's Call/Nettling Imp - creatures forced to attack must move up to their full movement to attack something. If nothing is within movement range, the crea- tures' controller maintains the movement decisions. (Erg Raiders damage their controller if they cannot find someone to fight.) False Orders - allows caster to choose where damage is assigned by one of opponent's creatures in a battle. Fastbond - allows the wizard to link to any land that he or she moves through. A wizard takes one point of damage for each land beyond the first that is bonded in a turn. Fungusaur - will not gain +1/+l from damage received by deserts. (It still gains +1/+l if damaged by any other source.) Kudzu - when mana is pulled from target land, Kudzu unlinks the land. Psychic Venom - played onto a land. When mana is pulled from the land, the controller takes two points of damage. The Rack - does one point for each card less than two. Rocket Launcher - Can damage multiple targets if more than one damage is done. Veteran Bodyguard/Ali from Cairo/Martyrs of Korlis - only protects the wizard if he is in the same space. Wild Growth - played onto a land. When mana is pulled from that land, an additional green is pulled as well. Wheel of Fortune/ Timetwister/ Contract from Below - Draw up to a four card hand. Playing these cards ends your turn. (Contract: 4+1 cards.) Disclaimer: Magic: the Gathering and all of the Magic: the Gathering cards named in these rules, as well as the term "tapping," are copyrights of Wizards of the Coast. Their use in this variant should not be considered a contest to those copyrights. I would like to thank the following playtesters for their time, effort, and insight: Corin Andrade, Mark Chalice, Darren Holt, Rich McHugh, and D.J. Trindle Map Back to Shadis #17 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com